Exterminating Angels (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Frédéric Van Den Driessche, Maroussia Dubreuil, Lise Bellynck, Marie Allan, Sophie Bonnet
DVD Info
Release:
Jul 17, 2007
DVD Features:
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.37
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
- Subtitles - English - Optional
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
A complex, confessional examination of [Jean-Claude Brisseau's] twisted, thorny and ultimately ambiguous feelings toward women and sex.
... the film is passably entertaining but dramatically inert.
The cinematic equivalent of getting drenched with a splash of ice water.
It lacks any introspection to illuminate the erotic subject matter.
Endless auditions get the annoying Francois nowhere closer to grasping what turns women on.
It's not smart enough to actually pull off what it purports to do, and it's not free enough to simply enjoy itself.
Critics I admire have assured me that many of Brisseau's earlier films are less silly, more interesting, and even commendable.
Gorgeous French silliness, yes, featuring stunning women having languorous, artful sex with each other. What was I saying? Oh yes, the silliness. Artful, gorgeous, sexy, sure, but ridiculous nonetheless.
It's hard to tell if Brisseau is a raging misogynist or a radical feminist, and what makes the movie interesting is that he's probably a little bit of both.
[Director] Brisseau calculatedly offsets the silliness of the surreal elements and the earnestness applied to the sex by savoring the overall absurdity.
Mr. Brisseau honors the infinitely varying psyches of his female subjects. One may scoff at his voyeuristic self-indulgence, but when you come right down to it, isn’t that what the cinema is all about, one way or another?
A sexually-charged, eyebrow-raising thriller that often straddles that fine line between erotic thriller and all-out pornography.
Has heat but little light; it speaks of pleasure while treating it as a dirty word. The cast huffs and puffs but the exercise, sadly, remains academic.
If the movie was meant to render sympathy to Brisseau, it only reinforces how monstrously repugnant he is. The audacity to suggest his complete innocence makes the whole thing seem like black comedy, only the core sentiment is not funny.
A venture into the world of lust and love scripted with the beauty and discipline of Greek tragedy. As enthralling as it is disturbing. A must see for those who can tolerate the explicit sex.
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